What about Franklin Township? Good or Bad? (Indianapolis, Fishers: crime, houses)

[brialon3]

We have been thinking hard about the town of Franklin but in the last few days Franklin Township has been suggested. Any comments? Thanks.

[IndyGoat]

High taxes

Poor schools

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by IndyGoat

High taxes

Poor schools

The schools in Franklin Township are good.

[IndyGoat]

Originally Posted by DC 38

The schools in Franklin Township are good.

When I looked at all Indy schools on the state website (I know these are overall ratings and not for each individual student), I was less than impressed.

IPS is a mess which no amount of money will fix.

All of the township schools have poor performance compared to outlying school systems such as Carmel and Fishers.

See for yourself.

Search for Schools

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by IndyGoat

When I looked at all Indy schools on the state website (I know these are overall ratings and not for each individual student), I was less than impressed.

IPS is a mess which no amount of money will fix.

All of the township schools have poor performance compared to outlying school systems such as Carmel and Fishers.

See for yourself.

Search for Schools

Franklin Township has above average ISTEP scores and graduates 81% of its students. Sounds solid to me.

[dave.dawsn]

First and foremost: Franklin the town and Franklin Township are two distinctly different places. Franklin the town is an independent municipality in Johnson County. Some people consider it part of the Indianapolis metro by virtue of it being in Johnson county, others do not because of its distance to downtown and the open farmland between the end of Greenwood/Whiteland and the beginning of Franklin.

Franklin Township is located in the southeast corner of Marion County. I would argue that it is the least urbanized of the land inside city limits, especially to the east near I-74, but it is part of the city of Indianapolis.

That said, it is hard for me to evaluate Franklin Township for you without knowing how you define "good" and "bad."

Like I said before, the area lacks density and is pretty blue collar. There are some industrial complexes near 465, and the houses tend to be older inside the loop and newer outside the loop.

Beech Grove, which is technically an independent town, is partially located in the northwest corner of Franklin Township. Some people really like Beech Grove, others don't. I don't know much about it because I tend to stick to downtown, Broad Ripple, and the north side.

There are some new construction areas on the southeast side. Check out the Emerson Avenue and Thompson Road areas.

I don't know much about the schools other than this: the best education in Indianapolis is not in Indianapolis. It's in the suburbs. Carmel, Fishers (Hamilton SE district), Avon, Brownsburg, Center Grove, Noblesville, Zionsville...take your pick. All of these systems are going to have newer, better facilities and all of the other benefits of a larger, richer tax base. That is not to say that Franklin Township has bad schools. I simply don't know.

The University of Indianapolis is on the south-southeast side of town, but I can't say with any degree of certainty if it is actually inside Franklin Township or not, but it is nearby.

Bottom line: if you're looking for more space, less expensive housing and a blue-collar type crowd, I think you'd like Franklin Township. If you are seeking an urban environment, I can assure you Franklin Township is not for you. The best way to find out if you would like it there is to visit...I don't know if that's realistic or not, just a suggestion.

[Deez Nuttz]

If you decide on Franklin Township, be prepared to pay out the butt in property taxes.

Also be prepared to deal with quite a bit of traffic.

Franklin Township USED to be like the farmland community of Marion county. That was before all the farmers started selling their land and retiring. Now they're building houses on top of houses and with that comes new/renovated schools and businesses.

[IndyHomeInfo]

Originally Posted by brialon3

We have been thinking hard about the town of Franklin but in the last few days Franklin Township has been suggested. Any comments? Thanks.

Deciding if an area is good or bad is very subjective. You will find people who love Franklin Township and people that don't. You can always check school ratings and crime statistics online for that type of information.

Yes there are better schools in Carmel, Fishers, Zionsville, etc, but the cost of housing is going to be higher. If you don't have kids in school this isn't really a factor.

Property taxes have been an issue in Franklin Township. They have been higher and the property taxes are a complete mess in Marion County right now. We don't even have tax bills we should have received last November. It's crazy. The good news is that property tax caps are going into effect starting with the tax bills we will get payable this year (expect for the one that should have been paid last year). In 2010 the tax bill is capped at 1% of the assessed value of the house and hopefully will stay capped. This will bring relief to Franklin Township.

There does appear to be a loop hole with the cap. It is possible to add fees on top of the cap. Not much of a cap, huh? Voters in the Indianapolis Public Schools districts ok'd a referendum to add an additional fee to help improve the school system. I have heard it may be around $300 a year, but I don't know for sure.

It is definitely best to visit the area and see what you think.

[mss irish]

Franklin Township is a good place to be from!!! Property taxes sky rocketed, 4 million dollar football bleachers, the largest employer is the school system. I grew up in Wanamaker and hated to see what had become of a wonderful place to live, YEARS AGO!

[IndyGoat]

Corporation Snapshot, Franklin Township Com Sch Corp #5310

Barely above the avg for state ISTEP.

Much better than IPS

Corporation Snapshot, Indianapolis Public Schools #5385